When I got a proper job I was able to start saving for something better
and I bought a Pioneer compact Hi-fi which after a time I really started
to hate. The Pioneer quality was lacking from this unit and really a
lot of it was for show, like the twin display spectrum analyser. I hated
the way the cassette and cd decks clunked about. Many things frustrated
me with it, like the lack of external connections. It did sound good with surround optional speakers. We are talking a record deck, two tapes, radio and twin CD, epic specs!

It was one of these but without the 6 disk CD (pic stolen from ebay):

Pioneer Compact Midi System

The Pioneer separates:

I decided the answer was to buy separates to replace it. This Pioneer setup which at
the time I thought was 'it' for me and the stereo for the rest of my
life. I intended to keep it for as long as it would last, which taking
into Pioneer's reputation for "finish like a Rolls Royce; with build
quality like a Volvo" I really hoped this would have been true. I was so
in love with this setup:

I started buying the components in 1991 one unit at a time. I used to
fawn over the catalogues but the 3 main separates were the components I really
wanted. They didn't come easy, and it wasn't just a matter of going out
with £999.39+ and getting just what I wanted. First of all I got the amp
and paid top whack for it on a "buy now pay later" scheme, it was the
worst thing and hung over me all along until the payment was due and I
vowed never to do it again. With the other units I was lucky: I got the
tape and speakers in sales, they should have been £80 more each. The CD I
left far too long and by the time I was ready to buy you could only get
the ugly 1 bit machines. I just happened to visit Peter Watts Pioneer
Dealer in Bury St. Edmunds (Suffolk UK) one day and there was the CD I
had wanted all that time... and... £200 cheaper than new! Therefore my
stereo core components should have cost £1359.39 so I saved £360 on
marked price. I often went into Peter Watts from '89 onwards and I guess
they got to know me, so when I was ready to buy they knocked a bit off
the price. Peter Watts is now closed down (perhaps they were too
generous!) the original compact hi-fi came from them too.

Pioneer A-777 Amplifier
My Review: It is based on the minimal A-400 which was a prize winning
amp in its time with a very transparent sound. The A-777 is a fully
loaded version with much greater power and every knob and twiddle you
can think of. Reviews were not too favourable in the hi-fi magazines
saying that the sound was hash. The amp weighs 19 kg with its massive
heat sinks and transformers: as there are two of everything and each
channel has its own components. Personally I love the way it sounded and
dislike the 'warm-fuzzy' sound of other amps, however the so called
harshness of the sound can grate at higher volumes for a longer
listening period. This can be a quiet detailed listen or turn it up to
let the monster breath.
95+95watts at 8ohms, 140+140watts at 4ohms. It also had more connections than you could wave a stick at.

Pioneer A-777 amp

Pioneer PD-8500 CD Deck
My Review: I know little about what the media said about this unit, all I
know is that it was only a current model for one year and the following
year all Pioneer cd players were 1 bit units. Mine was a 28 bit unit. I
find the sound very clear but just on the side of too clear.
Cosmetically it is a babe and has minimal front panel buttons, most of
the functions are relegated to the remote. I was utterly in love with
this unit.

Pioneer CT-676 Tape Deck
My Review: This one I know is a winner and it was given rave reviews at
the time for its sound quality. I loved the powered cassette door, just
needing to press play to have the door whip in and play to start! I also
loved the Super Auto BLE where you can match the cassette exactly for
recording. The machine analyses the tape and sets its Bias, Level and Eq
accordingly. You do get great recordings from it. All topped off with a
real time tape counter and display off button.

JVC SP-X990 Speakers
My Review: Yet Again I have little idea what the media said. They were
not so expensive as far as speakers are concerned. They were a 3 way
setup with 25cm bass cones. They standed 858mm tall. The sound is a
little too glaring sometimes, but it is hard to know if this is the
fault of the amp (etc). They can play quiet but they have real abilities
to pump out the bass. In the picture I have taken the grills off, but
usually they run with black grills over the speakers.
100watts, 200 watts music
Speaker update: My son (3 years old at the time) put his fingers through
the tweeter and midrange on one side of the speakers. I contacted
speakercity USA and ordered 2 Peerless tweeters and 2 Vifa 5 1/2 inch
midrange. I then replaced the lot on my speakers. The sound is exactly
what I wanted, less glairing but more detailed, speakercity USA
delivered on the speakers but unfortunately their communication and
ordering process leaves something to be desired.

Sennheiser HD 530 II Headphones
My Review: The Hifi mags said these were best suited to Jazz and to
start off with I found the sound odd. But over the years they have
"broken in" and I like the sound very much. They are able to handle all
music very well from techno to classical. The bass weight is perfect and
the detail stunning. Build quality is second to none the only problem
was needing new foam for the ear pads, but this was after 10 years use!
Before these I had a string of top of the range Pioneer headphones, all
of which fell apart in less than 2 years. (I still have these in 2015)

Chord Company Cables
My Review: I have replaced my ageing IXOS cable to the CD and QMM
speaker cables with Carnival Silver Plus speaker cables and a Cobra 3
interconnect from CD to AMP from the Chord Company. There is a great
improvement in sound quality, much more detail and the 'flabby' bass
sound, which I blamed on the speakers, has gone.

Watershed 2006 on 19/3/06 all components taken down dump and chucked
away. It is all very well to have these ideals but sometimes life
doesn't work out that way.

Small Info: Little things that annoyed me, but trifles really. The size
of it started to get me down, a great slab of stereo and the box it had
to stand on had to be a big lump to take the 19kg amp alone. Then the
speakers were big floor standers which ended up as a huge lump of black
of a stereo up the corner. Ok it still sounded good, but I wondered if
new ones sounded better, also technology was catching up with it and not
being able to play mp3 on the cd was frustrating. What was the point in
being able to have bone crunching loud music when you can never turn it
up as it will annoy the neighbours? Having said that I do wish I still
had it.

Final Info: There were many other issues involved not just the ones
above but that is all in the past now and best forgotten, there is no
point putting the private info here and has nothing to do with the
stereo. We can plan many things in life, but sometimes it is just not so
simple, who knows what is round the corner.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Now I have a 24" monitor on my laptop I find that the £5 keyboard is really not up to it. Hence the Dell KB522 Wired Business Multimedia Keyboard. Very nice. I have started my degree in Creative and Professional Wiring this year and think I have a lot of typing ahead, hence the keyboard. It was only once I got this I realised how hard I had to hit the keys on the old one, as first of all with this one it hurt I was hitting them so hard. Pretty much sorted on the computer front now. I bought Dell hoping for longevity from this item. I don't like to buy new stuff all the time from an environmental standpoint.

PLEASE NOTE: I am not boasting about this accident, I was a fool,
and I was very lucky to live.
THIS PAGE WAS CREATED AS A WARNING TO OTHERS. I never thought I
would do something so stupid.
The crash was on the A134 near Wormegay (click
here for map) was on my way to King's Lynn from Thetford
(Norfolk UK) 8:00am May 1998 in the car I had owed for
8 years. One minute everything was normal then I had to start
…